


Broken Wings

by vamplamp



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Batfamily, Civilian Jason Todd, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Fluff and Angst, Tim Drake is Robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-03-09 20:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18924637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vamplamp/pseuds/vamplamp
Summary: Nightwing. Shit. Jason stumbled back a few steps before his brain helpfully reminded him why he had been running in the first place and quickly accessed that this might just be the one time that a bat was the lesser of two evils.aka the AU where Jason never tried to steal Batman's tires but he somehow ends up meeting him anyway, just a few years later on. And oh yeah, Two-Face may or may not want him dead as well.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> throwing out this chapter because I loved writing it and it's one of my favourite types of AUs!

Jason could hear his blood rushing through his ears as he pushed hard off a wall and sprinted onwards into the next alley. He could hear Two-Face’s men thundering along behind him, far too close for comfort. He knew these alleys, it didn’t matter that it was dark, he knew these streets better than anyone and honestly that was the only thing he had going for him right now. That and the fact that Two-Face wanted him back alive, if only so he could kill him himself. 

Damn his dad for borrowing and borrowing stupid amounts of money that he couldn’t pay back and double damn him for getting thrown in jail and dead, leaving Jason the one to get chewed out for it. Damn him for abandoning Jason to hiding from his debts on the streets for years. 

Trying not to panic Jason looked around for some kind of inspiration as he ran, if he carried on like this there was no doubt at all about whether they’d catch him, but every door and window he could see was pulled closed and the streets abandoned, no one wanted to stick their neck out for some street rat, not against Face’s crew.

Fear gripping his heart, Jason made the split second decision and began scaling the fire escape that lined the wall of the nearest building. It was a long climb and Jason could feel his legs numbing from either the growing cold air or the endless stairs. That’s what happens when you haven’t eaten for two days and then get yourself into a high speed chase. When he finally pulled himself onto the roof, counting himself lucky that the fire escape actually went that high, Jason quickly zipped up his threadbare hoodie and threw up the hood in a pointless effort to blockout the icy wind. The clanking of the men following him up spurred him on despite his numbing limbs and he ran and jumped for the next roof, landing strong and continuing forward. The next leap didn’t go so smoothly, the roof he was jumping to was slightly lower than his current one and he landed hard on his left ankle, which immediately buckled and he fell down into an awkward role. 

Jason cursed colourfully as pain broke through the numbness and he couldn’t help but cry out as he attempted to pull himself back to his feet and stumble onwards. He couldn’t run, he could hear the men gaining, he could feel his hands shaking like crazy. Jason looked over his shoulder and took a deep breath at the sight of his pursuers, lit in the steady glow of the Wayne Enterprises building to their left, and the way they were grinning at him as they gained fast. Just as he was about to turn forwards again, Jason thumped straight into a wall of muscle. Eyes wide he looked up into the domino mask and bright blue V on the chest of the man looking down at his with an eyebrow raised. Nightwing. Shit. Jason stumbled back a few steps before his brain helpfully reminded him why he had been running in the first place and quickly accessed that this might just be the one time that a bat was the lesser of two evils. Stepping forward again, Jason subtly pulled his brass knuckles out of his pocket and slipped them on before swinging hard for the vigilante’s face. Now Jason knew how to swing a punch, he’d had his fair share of street fights but he wasn’t going to kid himself with the idea that he would have landed anything if Nightwing had actually even been considering him a threat. As it was he seemed to take the bat completely by surprise and his hit landed, his path momentarily cleared even if he almost sent himself falling over the edge of a roof in the process. Without hesitating, a mistake that would get him caught, Jason used his good leg to fling himself towards the adjacent roof top and tried to take the landing with a roll which mostly just resulted in him bruising his shoulders painfully. 

Trying to stand back up his ankle gave in and he collapsed back down with a yell, pain spiking up his leg with sharp intensity. 

‘End of the line kid.’

Jason looked up into the face of the thug crouching over him with a grimace.

‘Time to pay the boss back with whatever you’ve got.’

‘You know,’ Jason’s voice was audibly shaking, from the cold or the pain he didn’t know, ‘all this time running and I never thought the guy who finally got me was gonna be wearing a jacket that ugly.’

The guy immediately cracked his fist across Jason’s face, sending him slamming nose first into the concrete below him, causing blood to start to flow down his face, he just couldn’t dredge up the energy to move an arm and wipe at it. Before the thug had time to swing again, Jason gawked as he was hauled backwards and kicked in the stomach by Nightwing, who had clearly decided to make a reappearance. As much as he wanted to stay and watch the vigilante beat up Face’s thugs, Jason figured it would be best for his general welfare if he was gone by the time things got cleared up. If not due to his less than stellar record with the GCPD, then because he’d literally punched the guy a few moments ago. Ignoring the way his whole body had started to shake, Jason wiped at his nose with his sleeve and began to drag his way across the roof in the direction of the top of a ladder that he could see poking up above its edge.

He was making slow but steady progress until he eventually made it to within touching distance. However just as he was reaching out to grab onto the top rung a crisp voice came from above him.

‘You’re clearly very stubborn but I’m sorry there is no way you make it to the ground without falling to your death kid.’

Jason huffed and chose to ignore what had to be Nightwing and instead grabbed the freezing metal and made as though to swing himself around and down, only to he stopped by a gloved hand wrapping around his quivering wrist. 

‘Seriously kid, there is no way I’m letting you go down that ladder on your own right now so don’t even try it.’

Giving up, Jason released the rung and allowed Nightwing to manoeuvre him onto his back and lean up against the edge of the roof.

‘Im, I’m not, I’m not a fucking kid.’ The cold was getting so intense that he couldn’t even feel the pain in his ankle anymore and Jason’s cursed himself for letting the shivering making him stutter.

Nightwing shot him a disbelieving look from where he’d dropped to a crouch and begun to carefully examine Jason’s ankle, ‘sure you aren’t. Do you know Leslie Thompkins? I want to take you down to her clinic so I know you actually got this ankle looked at properly.’

Jason stomach dropped out, Dent almost found him there once, he couldn’t risk bringing trouble to the Doc’s door again. ‘No, not there, you can’t, I can’t. They’ll find me there, I can’t.’

Although he clearly wanted to ask questions, Nightwing only placed a warm hand on his shoulder, ‘okay, no clinic gotcha, but buddy this ankle isn’t gonna wrap itself.’

When Jason didn’t reply, only looked at him through half lidded eyes, Nightwing frowned as though in concern, which wasn’t right because Jason wasn’t the guy who got saved by the bats, and reached up to put his fingers against his ear.

‘Hey O, can you patch me through to Agent A?’

A short wait.

‘Thanks.’

A slightly longer wait.

‘A, I’ve got a kid that needs patching up and he can’t go to the clinic cause someone’s after him.’

Pause, Nightwing bit his lip as he used his other hand to try and wipe away some of the blood Jason could feel starting to dry on his face.

‘I don’t care what B will say, he’s half frozen and I won’t leave him out here. I’ll bring him in the back way and he doesn’t even have to go upstairs, I swear.’

Pause.

‘Thanks A, you’re a lifesaver. The cars nearby so I’m gonna bring him in that, see you in a few.’

His shoulder’s releasing tension Jason hadn’t even spotted was there, Nightwing turned back to Jason and smiled at him softly.

‘What’s your name kid?’

‘Jason.’

‘Well Jason, this is probably gonna hurt like hell and I apologize in advance.’

Without giving a Jason a chance to do so much as frown in confusion, Nightwing moved and scooped him up bridal style and heading for the door that lead inside the apartment block they were currently on top of. The near constant jostling caused his ankle to start throbbing angrily and left Jason to try and focus all of his effort on not passing out. He lasted until Nightwing started driving them both inside the goddamn Batmobile. That was when things just got too insane for his exhausted brain to handle and he involuntarily drifted off.

 

* * *

 

‘He’s a kid B, he was shaking. I read the situation and made a decision.’

‘You should have taken him to Lesley.’

‘I already told you, he was coherent enough and told me he couldn’t go.’

‘It’s protocol and you said it yourself, he is a child with a head injury who punched you in the face, you should have taken him there.’

‘Oh yeah, because that’s totally what you would have done.’

A pause followed and Jason tried his best to look like he was very much still passed out and definitely not listening in. He’d gotten enough of the second hand anger when people were fighting back with his parents thanks.

‘I’m not talking to you while you’re like this.’

‘Seriously B, like what?’

‘You’re thinking irrationally.’

‘Why because I’m not just parroting back everything you say to me?’

‘Because you’re letting your judgement get clouded.’

A scoff closely followed by a loud sigh followed that one.

‘You shouldn’t have brought him here but you did so we will wait for him to wake up and give us some more information before any decisions are made. Go run his blood, see if anything comes back.’

‘Sure Batman, whatever you say.’

Jason almost missed the two sets of footsteps walking away from him due to the way his brain practically froze up at that. He’d recognised the younger voice as Nightwing and that was one thing but Batman? Shit. Shit. Shit. The bogeyman of Gotham had been right there over his bed. Oh he was so going to die. He’d punched Nightwing. He’d landed a punch on a bat. There was no way he was getting out of this alive.

‘So you might want to consider slowing your breathing, you know, before you pass out again.’

Shocked by the voice, Jason’s brain slowed down enough to realise that it (thankfully) wasn’t Batman or Nightwing so he opted to crack his eyes open and investigate. Whoever it was clearly already knew he was awake anyway. To his surprise there was a kid, who couldn’t be older than 12 or 13, curled up in the chair next to his bed in a long-sleeve red shirt and  grey sweats with a book clutch in one hand. There was a black domino mask covering his eyes.

‘What?’ Jason’s voice was groggy but definitely clear enough to be understandable.

The kid switched his book to his other hand and reached the now empty one across the distance between them, Jason ignored it, ‘I said slow your breathing down, I’m Robin by the way.’

If he wasn’t currently lying down with a braced ankle, Jason would probably kick himself. Of course this was Robin, who else would the tiny kid, working with Batman, wearing a Domino mask be?

‘Mhmm sure, Jason.’

Robin quickly retracted his hand, ‘yeah I know, you told it to Wing before you passed out.’

‘Huh. So what’s the deal, you guys gonna hand me over to the GCPD now or what?’

‘What? No.’ Robin shot a look past Jason in the direction the footsteps had disappeared in earlier before continuing, ‘you can’t be older than I am, right?’

‘Kid I’m 16, you’re like 11, what the hell are you talking about?’ Jason knew he sounded put out but he seriously didn’t care, Robin or not, he knew starving had stunted his growth but he did not look as young as this kid did.

The way the kids eye visors blew wide was probably a little more satisfying than it should have been.

‘Actually I’m 12, almost 13 but you’re 16?! How?’

‘Well this might come as a shock to you kid but not all of us grow up with Batm-’

‘Robin! You were supposed to come get me if he woke up.’

‘Sorry B, it was only a moment.’

Batman made for an imposing figure as he strode across what Jason came to realise was actually a med-bay, until he came to a halt, towering over Jason’s bed.

‘Get yourself upstairs, see Agent A for food and go to bed.’

‘But-’

‘Now.’

Robin shot up out of his seat and headed out of the closed off corner of wherever this was, though not before shooting Jason a half wave, not that that did anything to settle his nerves about being left alone in a room with the Batman. As Batman moved to sit down in the chair Robin had just vacated, Jason weighed up his options and figured it was probably better to beat him to the punch, no matter how much he hated pleading. Batman definitely counted as exceptional circumstances

‘I swear I don’t know anything. I don’t know where we are or anything about any identities. Please just put me back on the streets and I won’t say a word to anyone that this ever happened.’

Jason couldn’t help but bite his lip when the Bat didn’t so much as twitch during or after his outburst, until a few moments later the man sighed and leaned forward a little further.

‘Jason, no one here’s going to hurt you okay?’ Sure cause they would totally tell him if they were planning to hurt him, ‘I just want to ask you some questions, if that’s alright with you?’

It took Jason a long moment to realise that Batman was actually waiting for his permission to continue.

‘Alright.’

‘Great. Could you tell me why exactly you had members of Two-Face’s gang riled up enough to chase you all the way up onto a roof?’

Batman’s gaze was an intense weight so Jason did what he always did in these kinds of situations, fought back with bravado.

‘Cause my old man got himself banged up by your lot, that’s why.’

If Batman was taken aback by his change of rhythm then he didn’t show it.

‘So?’

‘So he owed Two-Face more than he could handle and got himself banged up and shivved instead, so I’m the only one left for Face to take it from.’

Before Batman could respond a voice broke in from behind Jason, ‘didn’t know Harvey was taking his anger out on kids these days.’ Nightwing.

He turned his head so he could look at the other vigilante, ‘yeah well welcome to Gotham. Face has been after me three years, so keep up, the gangs never forget shit like debts. And quit with the kid stuff, I’m 17.’  _ In a month. _

‘You’re 16. Barely.’ Jason snapped his bed back across to look at Batman again, ‘I just ran your prints through the database. You’re name’s Jason Todd. you’re 16. You’re a kid.’


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who commented, left kudos on and bookmarked the first chapter. I appreciate every single one of you! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy the update!

After attempting to good cop-bad cop Jason into telling them anything else he knew about Two-Face’s operations (a tactic that Jason thought was rather redundant since Batman had literally just told him that no one was going to hurt him), Batman and Nightwing had tried to grill him about his home life. Jason had buckled enough to give them the basics, parents dead, been on the streets ever since, no gang affiliations partly out of fear that Two-Face would find him but also because he wanted no part in the kind of life where he ended up dead in some alley before his 17th birthday for nothing. That part had got him what he thought might be an approving grunt from Batman.

Also, turns out he hadn’t actually hurt his ankle that bad and it would only take a couple of weeks to fully heal but he did have an impressive collection of bruises, including a huge array across the left side of his face and nose, on top of a whole array of nutritional deficiencies.

Jason supposed that at some point the bats had decided that he wasn’t some kind of imminent threat because when they stood up and told him they’d come back in the morning, he was not kicked out on his ass or carted over to any kind of cell but rather just told that he should stay in bed and try to get some sleep. 

Jason wasn’t sure how to process being told to ‘get some sleep’ by the boogeyman and his kid but sometimes shit just happened and if there was one thing Jason knew how to do by now it was rolling with the punches.

As much as he loathed the idea of falling asleep in unfamiliar territory, after lying alone and listening to the repetitive clicking of the bats, drifting in from what must be the main area, Jason began to find it difficult to do anything but shut his eyes and the next moment he was blinking awake feeling far more rested than he could ever remember being. Not that that was saying much. There was no way of telling how long he’d been asleep but Jason had to assume that although, judging by how rested he felt, it must have been a while, it couldn’t be that late in the morning as he was definitely still alone.

Alone... in Batman’s lair. Jason grinned. So they’d told him to stay in bed, so he was kind of scared of Batman but they had to be more insane than the Joker if they thought Jason wasn’t going to grasp this golden opportunity with both hands. Plus out of anything, the Bat’s lair was a pretty awesome last thing to see, especially since they’d be dumping him back on the streets as soon as they could and he would never get this chance again, if they didn’t kill him first.

Careful to be quiet, Jason sat himself up and slowly pulled the IV needle from his arm, something he was pretty practiced at due to sneaking out of the Doc’s clinic before being formally discharged many a time. Swinging his legs round off the side of the bed, Jason felt a shiver run up his body as he rested his bare feet into the tiled floor, wary of his left ankle and the layer of bandage wrapped around it. 

Despite the painkillers he had no doubt he was on, the moment Jason tried to put any kind of weight on the injury his ankle gave out with a rush of pain and he couldn’t help but immediately collapse back onto the bed with a muffled yelp. Breathing in and out sharply, Jason looked around the room through squinted eyes before finally settling on a set of crutches. Settled against the far wall of course because when had his life ever been easy? 

It took a painstakingly long amount of time, or long in Jason’s head anyway, before he was finally stood up with the crutches and psyching himself up to the push his way through the doors and into wherever Batman came from.

‘Come on Todd! Get your shit together, you’ll never forgive yourself if you don’t even try and see what’s in there!’

One last deep breath and Jason used his shoulder to push forwards into the next room- no  _ Cave  _ because this was a Cave, a massive cave so complex and full of stuff that Jason didn’t know which way to look first. There was a huge computer taking up half of one wall, its screens alight with data that appeared and vanished before Jason could even have a hope of reading it, a giant T-Rex, of all possible things, was stood on a platform way under the one Jason was currently on top of and in the distance he would see a massive aircraft hangar filled with all the planes and helicopters that Jason had only heard of in rumour. This was crazy, he had to be dreaming because shit like seeing the inside of  _ Batman’s Cave _ just didn’t happen to him.

The volume of the clack of the crutches against the floor caused Jason to cringe as he made his way over to where the Batmobile was parked in all its glory. Jason could still remember the first and last time he’d seen this car like it was yesterday. He’d considered taking the tires but he’d hesitated too long and Batman had come back and whizzed away, before he’d had the chance to even move out from his position crouched on a nearby fire escape. Jason couldn’t resist doing what he’d always regretted not doing and reached out to run his hand along its sides, the metal cold to the touch. 

‘You’re not supposed to be out here.’

Jason jolted so hard that he had to push half of his weight onto the Batmobile in order to stop himself from overbalancing onto the floor. Turning around he frowned at the sight of what had to be Robin only this time he was dressed in a school uniform, a thick black coat hiding the logo, and of course his domino. The kid was stood at the top of a long staircase on the other side of this section of the cave, a tray held in his hands.

Jason was frozen, the crutch he’d let go of in favour of leaning on the Batmobile had clattered to the floor a couple of feet away, not that having it would have helped as Jason found himself not doing anything but watching as the kid made his way down until they were stood across from each other.

The kid frowned, thoughtful in a way that Jason thought really didn’t belong on the face of a kid so young, not that he hadn’t seen his fair share of that on the streets, ‘You should probably get back to bed before B comes down,’ he looked like he was about to mention something else but stopped himself quickly and instead held out the tray that Jason could now see held the largest stack of pancakes he’d ever seen with a small smile. ‘Breakfast?’

 

* * *

 

The kid had stuck around and watched Jason practically wolf down the food with that small frown on his face again before he’d checked his phone and immediately sprung up to go running out the room, whilst yelling something about being late. Jason couldn’t help but smile around his food at the comical action, ignoring the uncomfortable pang of jealousy in his gut because this kid was going to school when he hadn’t been able to in years.

He finished the entire plate of food, putting the tray up onto the bedside table carefully, and immediately regretted shovelling it all down so quickly due to the way his stomach was churning unhappily. Worth it though, the pancakes had tasted incredible and he had no idea when he was going to have access to another meal like that again, if ever.

He drifted for a while, trying to get his stomach to settle until he looked up to the sound of Batman and Nightwing, both in full costume, striding into the room. 

Nightwing walked ahead so he was standing at the end of his bed, hands on the railings, ‘Hey Jay! How’s your ankle?’

‘It’s Jason, and my ankle’s-’

‘Well enough to have you up and about the moment you woke up?’

Despite that last part being growled out by Batman, Jason couldn’t help but feel like he was a source of amusement as much as he was being scolded. 

Feeling awkward in the silence that followed, Jason looked down at where his hands were wound together in his lap, ‘Is this, Is this the part where you dump me back on the streets?’

‘Jason-’ To his surprise it was Nightwing that replied first but he quickly cut him off, not wanting to hear those words from the mouth of the man who saved him.

‘It’s fine okay, you’ve done your good dead okay. You saved me, you wrapped my ankle, I’m fine, you can take me back now. I’m not your obligati-’

‘Jason!’ Batman practically grunted, but it was enough to quieten him, ‘is that what you want? Do you want us to take you back to where Nightwing found you?’

Jason couldn’t help but scoff, ‘what I want? The fuck does that matter? Though maybe not where you picked me up ay? I’d been running forever before then so be handy if I could get a little closer to where I keep my shit.’

He was surprised at the way Nightwing reacted by running a hand through his hair roughly and rolling his eyes so hard Jason could tell despite the visors and mask, ‘would you just ask him already B?’

_ Ask him? _ Ask him wh-.

‘Jason.’ Thoroughly baffled he found himself frowning at Batman, ‘I’ve read your files, you’re a good kid, I know you are and I wanted to ask if you’d like to stay, for a while. Only if you want to of course, if not I will personally drive you to wherever you want to go.’

Jason blinked. ‘What?’

Neither vigilante had looked away from him for a moment since Batman had started talking and it was starting to get unnerving.  

‘We want you to stay Jay. Me, B, Robin, please just consider it, even if it’s just while you heal.’ 

‘But why?’ Jason practically spluttered.

Batman finally looked away, but only to shoot Nightwing a look that was indecipherable, if only because of the mask covering half of his face, ‘because certain people seem to think I benefit from having people to look after, and sending you back out there, it feels like I’m throwing you right back to Two-Face,’ Batman turned back to him, ‘but also because I spent most of the night thinking about it and I want to Jason.’

‘You want me to live in a dingy cave filled with bats for the foreseeable future?’

‘No.’

Jason stared into the cowl’s white lenses, an eyebrow cocked.

‘B…’ that was definitely exasperation in Nightwing’s voice. 

‘No, I want you to live upstairs,’ Jason gaped as Batman reached up and pulled the cowl back up and off his head.

‘I want you to live in my home Jason,’ Bruce Wayne said.

 

* * *

 

Jason wasn’t sure just when his life decided it was going to tumble off the rails of predictability completely, but he had somehow managed to reach the point where he was sat on a massive armchair, in a fucking manor house, with Bruce Wayne and Richie Grayson, while a actual butler served them tea. And he didn’t think it was going to get more unique than being targeted, by name, by Two-Face himself.

_ I don’t need an answer right now, but maybe you could stay for a few hours anyway and think it over? _

The words tumbled around on repeat in Jason’s head along with that hopeful look in Nightwing’s,  _ Dick’s,  _ eyes as he’d peeled his mask off and looked down at Jason. Part of Jason told him to just stay because at least he had a roof over his head and there was food in the kitchen but the other part of Jason, the one that forged him into survivor on the streets who didn’t get his shit stolen or himself sold into child trafficking, screamed that nothing came without a price and the price of all this had to be something Jason would never come back from.

Bruce seemed nice, but to be fair that meant jackshit in the long run. He was rich, so whose to say some of the bruises littering Nightwing and Robin’s skin hadn’t been put there by the Bat himself. Not to mention how he convinced them to join him in the first place. Jason’s stomach dropped.

‘Would I have to be a Robin?’ Jason blurted out, inelegantly breaking the silence that had settled over them as soon as Batman and Nightwing and come back from getting changed and he’d followed them upstairs. ‘I mean,’ deep breath, ‘is it a condition? I stay here, you protect me from Dent but in return I have to be Robin or whatever?’

Dick looked faintly baffled by the remark whilst Bruce frowned at him in thought before, after a moment, his face noticeably softened and he leaned towards Jason.

‘Never Jay. I would never force that on you. Dick became Robin as a method of venting his frustrations and to aid me in tracking down the man who killed his parents and Tim hunted me down and actively ordered that I found myself another Robin before volunteering himself.’

Jason couldn’t miss the way Dick practically snorted at that.

‘My point is Jason that you are welcome to live with us and never even have to go down into the cave if you didn’t want to. Though if you wished it, me and the boys would be happy to help you learn how to properly defend yourself. The choice is yours Jason, no one is going to take it from you.’

Jason could hear how his breathing was steadily increasing but barely registered the sound as he internally fought against the overwhelming urge to run, ‘oh.’

Maybe this could be an okay place, and, he argued to himself, Jason was smart, the second he grew suspicious he could disappear before they even realised he was having second thoughts. ‘Maybe I could stay. Just for a while I mean, while my ankle is healing, just to see.’

The smile Bruce threw him was warm in a way the Jason couldn’t picture anyone looking at him like before.

‘Just to see.’


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exams have been killing my productivity so bad but here's an update finally!

Jason couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer amount of food that was spread out on the table in front of him, dinner last night had been plated up when it came out so this was enough to have Jason frozen in his seat for a moment after Alfred told him he could ‘help himself to whatever he liked and if what he wanted wasn’t out then just ask and he would probably be able to make it up for him.’ Which seemed unlikely to Jason because he was pretty sure that every breakfast food he’d ever heard of, and quite a few he hadn’t, was currently spread out in front of him.

It was daunting to say the least but Jason wasn’t in the habit of wasting food and didn’t hesitate to pile up his plate with a multitude of different things, making sure to subtly slip a couple of the bread rolls into the pockets of the oversized hoodie Dick had lent him because just cause nothing had gone wrong yet didn’t mean he was going to forget how to be prepared. 

It was late in the morning but a Saturday so Tim was sat across from him at the table, a casefile open on his lap as he absentmindedly nibbled at a muffin. Jason had learnt the previous day that Tim didn’t actually live at the manor but next door however his parents were rarely home so he’d made a habit out of staying over on the nights when patrol finished late or he wanted to use the cave’s computer to work on a case. 

The kid was reserved but Jason hadn’t missed the way his eyes had lit up upon learning that Jason was going to stay for a while and he’d torn the mask of his face and quickly introduced himself properly. Jason was still incredibly confused as to why they seemed so glad that he had decided to try staying, must be more to it, Dick didn’t even live here most of the time, only having left Bludhaven for the weekend and come across Jason by chance. The whole prospect baffled Jason to no end. 

But the thing was, he’d slept in a bed last night. A real bed. Not the hospital bed in the cave, not one of the lumpy mattresses in Doc Thompkins’ clinic and not a half burnt away couch on the floor on an abandoned house but an honest to god king size bed. Jason was pretty sure it had been so soft that he was going to sink right to the floor and drown in the blankets. So with the warmth and the food and the bed, right now he didn’t need to understand, he could stay for awhile because fuck he needed a break. 

 

 

* * *

  
  


Driving through The Narrows and looking at it from a car window forced Jason to see things the way Dick, who was in the driver’s seat beside him, was no doubt looking at it and it made Jason squirm in his seat. The streets he’d grown up on somehow managed to look even more ragged and disease-ridden now he was coming in from the outside after having experienced the luxury of Wayne Manor. He stared out and steadfastly ignored the looks Dick kept shooting him, not wanting to see the pity in his eyes. Sure Dick had always known he was a Crime Alley rat but it was a whole different thing personally directing him towards the actual place that Jason had been squatting in for the last two years. 

As soon as they pulled up out front, Jason flipped up the hood of his own red hoodie. He had changed out of Dick’s old one before he’d left, not wanting to give himself an extra reason to get mugged, even if it meant walking around in something riddled with holes. He was more than used to it anyway and it did the job of covering his face enough that if he came across anybody they wouldn’t look at him long enough for it to matter. 

‘I shouldn’t be long, just have to grab my shit and I’ll be right back out and we can go.’

Jason ignored the way Dick was probably looking at him again and shoved his car door open.

‘Do you not want me to come with you?’

Jason couldn’t help but grin at that and he turned back into the car for a moment so he could speak with a lower voice, ‘you know for a vigilante you’re seriously lacking in common sense, you leave a car like this on its own on a street like this and all you’d be left with when we got back is your shitty air freshener blowing away in the wind.’

Dick cracked a grin of his own and despite the large sunglasses he had on Jason could tell it reached his eyes.

‘You know best Little Wing, see you in a bit then.’

_ Little Wing.  _ How had Jason managed to get himself that one? So the stealing bit was kind of true, even though this was definitely one of the safer streets around due to not being too close to the centre of the shittiest part of town and mostly made up of abandoned structures similar to Jason’s, but mostly he just really didn’t want Dick seeing the inside of the shithole he’d regularly slept in, the drive had been bad enough.

Grabbing his crutches and shoving the door shut behind him, Jason glanced up and down the street and breathed a sigh of relief to see it was mostly empty. He really really didn’t want to get mugged today. There was one guy leaning against a wall a couple of buildings away, a cigarette hanging between his lips, he didn’t look away from Jason as he reached up so he could breath a cloud of smoke in his direction. Feeling a little unsettled at the indecipherable look in the man’s eyes, Jason hurried around the back of the building to the window low enough for him to clamber in, it was awkward not being able to put weight on his ankle but he managed. 

Jason had come across this place a couple of years ago during a winter so bone numbingly cold that he’d been so weak from exhaustion and hunger that Jason hadn’t been sure that if he’d slept another night without proper cover he would wake up at all. He’d stumbled into this house and curled up on the rotted couch pushed up against a mostly dry wall, his backpack clutched to his chest. After spending the next few nights there in order to escape the snow, Jason had discovered a couple of loose floorboards that opened up a big enough space for him to perfectly hide his back pack away in. Quickly after, he discovered that having such a great hiding place really helped his survival, he no longer had an extra handle for people to grab when chasing him, he could move faster and not to mention he didn’t go back to having zero money every single time his got mugged by one of the bigger kids. 

Now Jason walked the familiar path across the room, wincing as the loud clacking of his crutches broke through the otherwise only quietly creaking building, and knelt to pull up the boards only to freeze when he saw the space underneath them was completely empty. No, no, no. The money didn’t matter anymore but that bag had held the last few pictures of him and his parents, now he had nothing.

‘Hey Todd.’

Jason jerked up to look towards the shadowed door frame the voice had come from, his blood running cold.

‘You looking for something?’

Immediately, Jason moved to grab for his crutches where they were laid down beside his but before he could do so much as lay a hand on them, they were sent clattering across the floor by a booted foot. He looked up into the face of the guy from outside.

He didn’t even have a chance to get to his feet before two sets of hands were gripping his arms and spinning him around so he was forced to stay on his knees facing the guy walking through the door.

Jason tried to force a sneer onto his face as he looked up at Two-Face and the man who’d come in beside him who was currently holding a gun on Jason but he knew he wasn’t putting up too much of a successful front. Despite the time Jason had spent running from his thugs, he’d never actually seen Dent outside of pictures but the stories had most definitely done him justice. The scattered lighting of the house cast stark shadows across the left side of his face giving the impression that that eyeball was practically floating in the air. In his hands he was holding Jason backpack which he proceeded to throw down onto the floor, the crumpled photos spilling out so Jason was met with his own childish gaze staring up at him from the image.

‘Take a good long look Jason, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be joining them soon.’

‘Go fuck yourself,’ Jason spat out, proud of the way his voice didn’t waver but he could help but cry out when one of the guys holding him pushed down on his bad ankle causing pain the vibrate up his leg.

‘You’ve put up a good fight Jason, and I respect that I do but you know I have to follow through with your debt.’ At some point Dent had taken a coin out of his pocket and started flipping it over and over in his hand in an almost mesmerising motion, ‘so here’s what we’re gonna do, I’m gonna flip this coin. You get a 50/50 chance, black you die here, clean you walk out, we’re square. The coin will decide.’’

Shit. Shit. Jason knew this was how Two-Face did things but he never imagined actually being on the receiving end of his coin, he could only manage a nod, not trusting himself to speak.

Seemingly satisfied or maybe just deciding it was time, Two-Face flipped the coin high into air and everybody watched it spin and spin and spin.

Jason wasn’t ready to die. Sure ask him a couple of days ago and he might not have been sure why he was even running anymore but not now. Now he had just been handed a chance, Dick was out in the car none the wiser. Jason felt sick at the thought of Dick having to come in here and find his body. Dick having to go back to Bruce and Tim and Alfred to tell them what happened. Why had he stopped fucking Nightwing from coming inside with him? For what? His dignity? Fat lot of good that was doing Jason now.

The coin clattered to the floor right on top of a photo of Jason and his dad outside the circus and he starred through blurring vision at the side of the coin glinting up at him.

‘Huh, looks like it’s your lucky day kid.’

The next few moments blurred together and Jason came back to himself as he felt hands gripping his shoulders to help him sit up from where he’d somehow ended up with his cheek pushed against his backpack on the floor.

‘Jason, fuck, Jason, look at me! Are you alright? I saw Two-Face and his goons walking out and, what the fucking hell happened?’

Jason looked at him and smirked weakly, ‘watch your language golden boy,’

Dick smiled back, relief filling his eyes, ‘yeah well, sometimes nothing else feels appropriate. Come on let's get you out of here, you can explain later.’

With slow, precise movements, Dick manoeuvred Jason’s still shaking limbs so he could put his refilled backpack on him and help him to climb onto Dick’s back before picking up the crutches where they’d clattered into the wall under the window. Jason clung on as Dick walked them both out of the now opened front door and back to the car, he was free. Countless years of running and he was finally free. Free and alive goddammit.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short but sweet one to finish this off, hope you enjoy.

That night Jason just couldn’t sleep. Him and Dick had explained what had happened with Two-Face to Bruce and Tim at dinner, which had resulted in Bruce promptly disappearing to the cave to try and find something he could make stick, in order to take Harvey down properly. 

Jason had gotten so far as to change into some of the unreasonably expensive pyjamas Bruce had insisted on buying him along with an overly large hoodie he had found abandoned in one of the living rooms after the others had disappeared on patrol, before he decided there was no way he was going to be doing anything but stare at the wall if he tried to sleep right now. 

Even though the others were on patrol and Alfred was probably down in the kitchen, Jason still made an effort to move quietly through the halls. Digging his toes into the thick carpet, he entered the library and immediately felt some of the tension seep from his muscles. Jason had found the library the day before when he had been exploring the massive building and had instantly been blown away. 

Pushing his hands deep into his hoodie pockets Jason moved through the stacks, as indecisive as ever when it comes to actually choosing a book. Eventually he opted to just go for something that he was familiar with so he didn’t have to concentrate through his fatigue and curled up on an old armchair with Pride and Prejudice open on his lap.

Jason blinked his eyes open and frowned at his unknown surroundings until he recognised the Wayne library, relaxing a little at the realisation that he must have just fallen asleep while reading. With a frown, he looked around to see where the book had fallen but suddenly flinched back at the sight of Batman, Nightwing and Robin standing menacingly over him. They were in full costume which struck Jason as weird because of Alfred’s ‘no capes upstairs’ rule but more weird was the fact that Jason himself was dressed in the black jeans and red hoodie they’d picked him up off the streets in. 

‘Bruce? What’s going on?’

‘Time to go Jason.’

Jason heart dropped and he sat up slowly with the realisation that this was definitely the Batman not Bruce he was talking to.

‘What? What, no?’

Robin scoffed loudly, a sound that Jason had never heard come out of the kid before, ‘I know you said he was stupid Wing but you sure weren’t exaggerating.’

‘Go, as in leave Jason,’ he couldn’t read Nightwing’s face because of those white lenses but the condescension in his tone was clear enough, ‘we all know you don’t belong here.’

Jason had known this was coming but honestly he had hoped for a few more days at least and some warning so he could disappear before having to suffer the pain of getting properly thrown out. 

Abruptly, it wasn’t Batman, Nightwing and Robin in front of him but Bruce, Dick and Tim. Jason startled hard at the blood splattered all over their suits and faces when without warning Dick fell to one knee, red blooming through the white of his dress shirt, to reveal Two-Face standing smug behind him, the knife in his hands soaked red with blood.

‘Oh Jason, you didn’t really think that was it did you?’

Some distant part of Jason was screaming at him that this couldn’t be real, that his mind was tormenting itself, but that did nothing to stop him rushing to Dick’s side as the older boy fell to the floor, pushing his hands roughly against the wound in a fruitless attempt to stem the bleeding. Bruce and Tim remained frozen but both had stricken looks on their faces as they stared down at Dick.

‘Time to choose Jason.’

Unable to look away from his blood soaked hands, Jason stuttered out a reply, ‘What?’

‘Interest, Todd. Pick which one you want me to kill and everybody else gets to live.’

Jason’s head jerked up to stare at Two-Face, who was spinning the knife in one hand, ‘no I, I can’t, I-’

‘You will, otherwise your debt doubles kid.’

Jason’s hands were shaking as he continued to push down on Dick’s wound, refusing to acknowledge the fact that the body beneath him had long since gone limp and the way his old jeans were steadily being drenched by the blood. 

Without warning, Bruce snapped out of his trance and although didn’t move did start calling out, an attempt to get Jason to look away from the blood. It sounded almost as though he was being shouted at through a deep layer of water.

‘Jason, Jason! Can you hear me? Jaylad? Come on Jay, it’s just a bad dream. Wake up for me Jason.’

Wake up? That didn’t make any sense, Jason was already-

Suddenly he surged up into a seated position, eyes wide as he looked around and realised that he was still sitting in the library. The only other person in the room was Bruce, who he realised with a jerk, was currently pushing him tightly into his side and holding the blanket that was now wrapped his shoulders. Jason brain was telling him to push away and go back to his room alone but no matter how many times he tried he just couldn’t get himself to slow his breathing and actually move. Instead he found himself pushing closer against Bruce as the man rubbed the back of his head soothingly and supplied a steady whisper of, ‘It’s okay, you’re okay. Just breathe, just breathe Jay.’

He’d deal with this in the morning, he could disappear after Bruce went to bed. He could have this now and deal with the fallout later. 

Jason’s breathing was still incredibly rapid and he still had a hand curled tightly into the blanket around his shoulders when a loud buzzing came from Bruce’s phone where it had been placed on the table next to where they were seated. At first neither of them moved and the phone rang itself out, but when it almost immediately started buzzing again Bruce rubbed his brow roughly before reaching out and grabbing it. After checking the screen and scowling, Bruce answered the phone with a growl.

‘This had better be important.’

If Jason wasn’t too busy wiping his nose and breathing deeply he might have chuckled at the peculiarity of hearing Batman’s growl coming from Bruce Wayne’s mouth, not to mention wondering who it could be at the other end of the line considering he could only hear one side of the conversation.

‘I’m busy.’

‘Yes I heard you but-’

‘Fine, but only because it’s you.’

‘Absolutely not.’

‘Okay, you and Diana.’

‘Be there in 10.’

Jason sniffed quietly as Bruce put the phone down with a sigh, looking up at him as the man pushed the hair sticking to the front of his head from sweat back using a big palm.

‘How do you feel?’

Jason shrugged, not really trusting himself to speak without immediately fleeing the room afterwards. Bruce nodded a little, sitting quietly for a moment before he looked down, one side of his mouth twitching slightly upwards.

‘Hey Jason, you want to come meet the Justice League?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun facts: - The hoodie Jason found belongs to Bruce, it's a Gotham Knights one that Dick gave to him for his birthday.  
> \- Clark was the one at the other end of the phone.
> 
> Thank you to everybody who has commented, left kudos or bookmarked this fic. Just know that it means the world to me and I'm so glad that you enjoyed something I wrote enough to let me know!

**Author's Note:**

> please comment below what you think and let me know what you enjoyed, reviews are always welcome!
> 
> Find me on tumblr: @thelampofthemoment


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